Not a term, not two terms, not three terms... but a generation of Putin.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

The 2nd most powerful man in Russia is...

Last week, I questioned myself over the fact that I appeared to have unconsciously slipped into a morbid fascination with Putin's Chief of Staff, Sergey Borisovich Ivanov. As you know, I started a companion blog on Tumblr for Generation P(utin), and quickly it filled up with photos of... Ivanov. There was virtually none of Medvedev. More disturbingly, there was more Ivanov than Putin.

There is nothing wrong with Medvedev, but I admit that once I referred to him as "the errand boy", when I was asked about how I felt that finally a Russian head of state finally visited Singapore.

Past experience has shown that one should trust one's instincts. My instinct was not to watch Medvedev. It was to watch Ivanov.

I'll leave you with this article, and I'll be back with more on Ivanov.

Vladimir Putin clearly likes to keep an eye on his enemies. Perhaps he should be taking a closer look at his friends.

Consider, for example, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov.

The KGB veteran and was widely considered the odds-on favorite to be Putin's successor back in 2007 until he was passed over for the more pliant Dmitry Medvedev. Now Kremlin-watchers say he is gearing up for another round.